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Applications of Horizontal Well

Technical Report · January 2021

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 Ministry of Higher Education and
Scientific Research
Misan University
College of Engineering
Petroleum Engineering Dep.
4th Stage

Petroleum Reservoir Eng. II

Applications of Horizontal Well

FEBRUARY 21, 2021

Supervisions: Dr. Haider H. Dham

Authored by: Ali D. Almajidi

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Table of Contents

ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................... 3
THE AIM ......................................................................................................... 3
AN INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 4
1. WHAT ARE HORIZONTAL WELLS? ...................................................................................................6
2. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF HORIZONTAL DRILLING. (RABIA 2002) .................................................6
3. TYPES OF HORIZONTAL WELLS: ..............................................................................................7
4. IMPORTANCE AND SELECTION BASIS OF HORIZONTAL WELL COMPLETION TECHNOLOGY HORIZONTAL WELL. .10

4. HORIZONTAL DRILLING APPLICATIONS............................................................. 14

1. APPLICATION OF HORIZONTAL DRILLING TO EXPLORATION. ...............................................................15
3. APPLICATION OF HORIZONTAL DRILLING TO ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY................................................16
4. APPLICATION OF HORIZONTAL DRILLING TO DRAINAGE ARCHITECTURE ................................................16

ECONOMICS OF HORIZONTAL DRILLING ....................................................... 16

1. COST/BENEFITS OF HORIZONTAL WELLS........................................................................................17
2. BENEFITS OF HORIZONTAL WELLS ARE: ...........................................................................................17
3. HORIZONTAL WELLS COMPARE TO VERTICAL WELLS ..........................................................................18
4. HORIZONTAL WELLS COSTS.........................................................................................................19

6. A MODEL OF THE OIL FIELDS THAT USE HORIZONTAL WELL TECHNOLOGY IN

PRODUCTION....................................................................................................... 20
1. HORIZONTAL OIL FILED IN IRAQ. ......................................................................................................20
2. SAUDI ARABIA ..........................................................................................................................24
3. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA .......................................................................................................25

7. DESICCATION ............................................................................................... 26
8. CONCLUSIONS .............................................................................................. 26
9. REFERENCES ................................................................................................. 26

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Tables:
Table 1: Shows the extent of development of horizontal wells around
the world since this technique was introduced and discovered from
(Rabia 2002) .............................................................................................. 6

List of Figures:
Fig 1:Three horizontal sections with different lengths and radius of horizontal wei5
Fig 2:Types of horizontal wells .................................................................................. 9
Fig 3:Types and features of horizontal wells, Courtesy of Baker from (Rabia 2002)
................................................................................................................................. 10
Fig 4: Three examples of horizontal wells drilling applications. ............................. 15
Fig 5:Horizontal wells compare to vertical wells..................................................... 18
Fig 6:Different Multilateral Well Configurations .................................................... 18
Fig 7:A Comparison of Monthly Production Rates for Horizontal and Vertical Wells
................................................................................................................................. 19
Fig 8: A Comparison of Cumulative Production Over Time for Horizontal and
Vertical Wells: ......................................................................................................... 19
Fig 9:U.S Rig Count by Type, 2000-2012 .................................................................. 20
Fig 10: Horizontal Well Profile (Mohammed S.AL-Jawad 2004).............................. 21

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 Abstract

the technology of drilling and production of horizontal wells is one of the most
significant breakthroughs in the oil and gas industry of the eighties. The continuous
improvement of hardware equipment made horizontal drilling cost-effective
technique for developing reserves, improving productivity and recovery in oil and gas
reservoir. There are four major horizontal well applications fields; 1) Control of coning
in relatively thin remaining all column area, 2) Improving sweep efficiency of water
flooding program. 3) Improving productivity rate in thin/tight reservoirs and 4) Saving
in total development costs in conjunction with previous three applications. This paper
presents the major areas of application of horizontal well and more specifically the
objectives of applying horizontal drilling in different Iraqi oil fields and the world
horizontal drilling activities along with the Iraqi experience will be converted. This
paper surveys different field examples to show the application trends of horizontal
well technology in both offshore and onshore oil fields. The main objective of this
survey is to demonstrate the performance improvement of these oil fields after the
application of horizontal well technology. Horizontal wells are of great interest to the
petroleum industry today because they
provide an attractive means for improving both production rate and recovery
efficiency. The great improvements in drilling technology make it possible to drill
horizontal wells with complex trajectories and extended for significant depths.
The aim of this paper is to present the design aspects of horizontal well. Well design
aspects include selection of bit and casing sizes, detection of setting depths and
drilling fluid density, casing, hydraulics, well profile, and construction of drill string
simulator. An Iraqi oil field is selected for designing horizontal well to increase the
productivity. Short radius horizontal well is suggested for the developing.

The Aim

Through our study of oil fields in the world and in Iraq in particular, we found that
horizontal drilling positively affects oil production from these fields and for various
reasons, the most important of which is reducing the economic cost of drilling and
preserving the environment from pollution associated with drilling operations.
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Therefore, in our report, we have focused on several points, which we will explain in
detail:

1. Historical study on horizontal drilling.

2. Study the factors affecting horizontal drilling and ways to reduce these
factors associated with drilling operations.
3. Study the economic costs using horizontal drilling techniques and compare
them with other escape methods.
4. The comparison between horizontal drilling and drilling, wave drilling, in
terms of the techniques used and the economic differences.

An introduction

The drilling and production of horizontal well have been recognized as one of
the most important technical achievement in the oil and gas industry in the last
twenty years. Such technology was considered at the beginning an exotic way of
drilling, the economical applicability of which was contemplated with some
skepticism by reservoir and production engineers. A major breakthrough in
horizontal drilling was made with the introduction of the downhole turbodrill bent
sub combination for direction drilling. Rapid advancement in directional guidance
technology such as the development of steering tools, new tools e.g. resistivity at
bit (RAB) and non-directional tools involved in measurement while drilling
(MWD), led to a recent surge in the usage of horizontal drilling within the
industry. 1
The industry demand of horizontal drilling technology has produced a variety of
new applications and techniques. During the period 1980 to 1984, only one or two
horizontal wells were drilled worldwide per year, but in 1988 that number of
horizontal had jumped to over 200 wells. Since then a gradual increase in wells has
been noticed with 1570 wells being drilled in 1994. Current industry projections
are that by the year 2000 over 5000 wells per year will be drilled horizontally. Fig.
1 illustrates horizontal well profile with different horizontal section lengths. 1
Record for Statoil holds long horizontal section in Norway (8758 m). The
productivity improvement comparing to that of a vertical well in the same reservoir
with the use of horizontal well is controlled by horizontal section length, target
layer thickness and permeability heterogeneity.
In Saudi Arabia-Kuwait Neutral zone a 2000 ft horizontal well completed in the
upper layers of a 40 years old depleted reservoir would produce seven times more
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than a vertical well in the same location, over five years period. The potential of
horizontal wells has recognized throughout the Middle East but it is in Oman that
has seen the most radical changes. By the end of 1994 the number of horizontal
wells were more than 200 in Oman, 80 in Saudi Arabia, 50 in Abu Dhabi, 20 in
Kuwait and 6 in Egypt. 2 Such kind of success and continuous demand of horizontal
well technology do not come by chance. The main factors contributed to it are; the
physical basis of the concept was sane, the required technology was made available
and there was a market need. (Hamada 2001)

Fig 1:Three horizontal sections with different lengths and radius of horizontal wei

In Saudi Arabia-Kuwait Neutral zone a 2000 ft horizontal well completed in the

upper layers of a 40 years old depleted reservoir would produce seven times more
than a vertical well in the same location, over five years period. The potential of
horizontal wells has recognized throughout the Middle East but it is in Oman that
has seen the most radical changes. By the end of 1994 the number of horizontal
wells were more than 200 in Oman, 80 in Saudi Arabia, 50 in Abu Dhabi, 20 in
Kuwait and 6 in Egypt. 2 Such kind of success and continuous demand of horizontal
well technology do not come by chance. The main factors contributed to it are; the
physical basis of the concept was sane, the required technology was made available
and there was a market need. The use of horizontal drilling technology in Saudi oil
fields have been for four targets; I) Control of coning in relatively thin remaining oil
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column areas, 2) Improvement. of water flooding program efficiency, 3)
Improvement of productivity rate in thin/tight reservoirs and 4) Saving in total
development costs in conjunction with the previous three points.

1. What are Horizontal wells?

By oilfield convention, a horizontal well is defined as a well with an inclination

angle of 90 degrees from the vertical. A vertical well is one with zero inclination
angle. (Rabia 2002)
There is a misconception in some quarters within the industry that horizontal wells
were introduced during the mid to late 1980’s. In fact, as the list below shows
horizontal drilling dates back to the 1950’s. (Rabia 2002)

2. Historical Development of Horizontal Drilling. (Rabia 2002)

Year Development of Horizontal Drilling

1950s Russians drilled 43 horizontals
1978 Esso, modern horizontal, Alberta
1979 Arco drilled to overcome high GOR’s and gas coning
1979-83 Elf test 3 onshore horizontals; Elf and Agip drill first Offshore
horizontal (Ropso Mane, Adriatic)
1986 50 horizontals worldwide. Cost 1.5-2 times greater than vertical
wells
1987-88 Horizontal well test theory and productivity assessment
Guidelines. Number of horizontals increased dramatically
1989 265 horizontals drilled worldwide.
1990 1000 horizontals drilled.
1991 First Australian horizontal drilled
1992 Over 2,500 horizontals drilled worldwide - 75% in North America
(mostly low permeability, gas/water coning regions)
Developments in hydraulic fracturing, perforating, computer
models and screen completion failures in unconsolidated
formations
1993-2000 Horizontal wells are drilled world-wide and become routine wells
Table 1: Shows the extent of development of horizontal wells around the world since this
technique was introduced and discovered from (Rabia 2002)

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3. TYPES OF HORIZONTAL WELLS:

There are three types of horizontal wells:

3.1 Short radius.

3.2 Medium radius.

3.3 Long radius.

3.1 LONG RADIUS (Rabia 2002)

This is the most common type of horizontal wells especially offshore. The build-up
rate is usually from 2 to 6 degrees/100ft. The most common BHA used is a steerable
system containing a single bent sub with a downhole motor,
Two profiles are in common use:

• A single build-up section terminating in the horizontal section

• A build-tangent and then a higher build-lateral section.

The advantages of long radius horizontal drilling are: (Hughes 1995)

I. Lower dogleg severities allowing rotation of drill string and less bending
stresses in casing and tubing.
II. Wells are more easily logged.
III. The completion alternatives are not limited.
IV. Long radius wells are useful from platforms or drilling pads where an
extended reach is required. Most offshore horizontal wells are long radius
because directional drilling is required before reaching the target in the
reservoir where the horizontal will be positioned.
V. Provides the ability to drill the longest horizontal sections. Horizontal sections
in excess of 10,000 feet have been drilled.

Some disadvantages of long radius horizontal wells are: (Hughes 1995)

I. The kick off point is shallower and the build section longer which can increase
directional drilling costs, especially in harder formations where penetration
rates are lower.
II. It is slightly harder to hit a small target because of the higher kick off point
due to survey uncertainties.
III. The horizontal departure prior to reaching horizontal is significantly higher
and limits horizontal lengths on smaller leases.

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3.2 MEDIUM RADIUS: (Rabia 2002)

The build rates for medium radius ranges from 8° to 25°/100 feet (some directional
drilling contracts put the upper limit at 20º/100 feet). With a radius range of 200 to
700 ft. The horizontal drain is usually between (1000 – 3500ft),
Typical well profile consists of build-tangent section and a build-horizontal section.
Two different BHA’s will therefore be required for this type of well. The second build-
up section should ideally start at the top of the "marker zone" and should reach a
maximum of 85-100 degrees on entry into the reservoir. An angle hold assembly
should be used to drill the horizontal section
Some advantages of medium radius are:

• Higher build rates require a shorter build section which reduces directional drilling
costs, especially in harder formations.
• Takes less horizontal displacement to reach 90° which may be beneficial on smaller
leases.
• More vertical hole can be drilled before the directional drilling starts. Troublesome
formations near the target interval can be drilled vertically and cased.
• Since the kick off point is closer to the target, the ability to hit the precise target is
better.
• Medium radius can achieve longer horizontal lengths. Horizontal lengths greater
than 7000 feet have been drilled.

Some disadvantages of medium radius are: (Hughes 1995)

I. Higher build rates cause greater bending stresses in tubular although they are
manageable.
II. Hole sizes are limited to a maximum of 12¼ inches and then a build rate of
around 12°/100 feet is the maximum (depending upon directional drilling
contractor).
III. Completion alternatives are slightly reduced.
IV. Rotary steerable assemblies cannot be used in the build section.

3.3 SHORT RADIUS. (Hughes 1995):

The main features of this type is the very high build-up rate of 60 – 150 degrees /100
ft with a radius range of 40-100 ft. This type requires specialized articulated motors
to affect the high build angles

Page |8
Advantages (Hughes 1995)
1. Enables sharp turns into thin reservoirs.
2. Both motor driven and drill pipe driven.
3. Laterals can be completed and tied back using special liners.

Disadvantages. (Hughes 1995)

1. Limited extension possible - Record = 1200’.
2. Poor directional control, must snake left then right to.
3. Special tools and equipment required.

Fig 2:Types of horizontal wells

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 Fig 3:Types and features of horizontal wells, Courtesy of Baker from (Rabia 2002)

4. Importance and selection basis of horizontal well completion technology

Horizontal well.
completion technology is the key technology that directly affects the development
benefits of oil and gas wells, and it is directly related to the effect and economic
benefits of oil and gas exploration and development. Selecting right and suitable
completion mode and completion parameters directly determines the future
development and production. The practice shows that the completion method and
the matching completion technology, which are suitable for the geological conditions
and fluid properties of the oil and gas field, can not only significantly improve the
production capacity of oil and gas wells and efficiently develop oil and gas fields, but
also reduce the direct oil and gas production cost, prolong the life of oil and gas wells,
and use low investment to achieve more production. To select an appropriate well
completion system, sufficient information about geological characteristics of oil and
gas fields, properties of formation fluids, production technologies to be used shall be
learnt, and the advanced well completion system design software shall be applied to
carry out comprehensive optimization design and propose a suitable and efficient
well completion method. horizontal well completion technology has increasingly

P a g e | 10
 attracted more attention and become a hot spot in the industry. Selection and design
of completion methods is the core link in the process of well construction since
reservoir, geology, drilling and oil recovery should all be designed and implemented
based on the requirements of completion.

1. Current situation of horizontal well completion technology.

In recent years, for influences from the continuous development of foreign drilling
and completion technologies, the rising price of crude oil and the large-scale
development of unconventional reservoirs, many advanced horizontal well
completion tools and instruments have been developed successively in order to
develop hydrocarbon resources to the maximum extent, forming a series of new
completion technologies such as sand control completion for high-end horizontal
wells, multistage fracturing completion, self-adaptive inflow control, and complex
thermal recovery well completion

I. Sand control completion

Some new technologies have been developed for horizontal well sand control
completion in recent years, including “mud cake” cleaning technology, screen top
cementing technology, casing-outside gravel packing sand control technology.

II. Mud cake cleaning technology in horizontal section

The development of “mud cake” cleaning technology in horizontal section promotes

the wide application of screen completion, which has changed the previous practice
of conducting casing perforation first and then implementing casing sand control.
The horizontal well “mud cake” cleaning is to install a wash-down valve at the bottom
of screen, and to insert an intubate with the tubing into the wash-down valve to
connect it to the outside of the screen. The acid is replaced into the annulus between
the screen and the open hole by inverse well flushing; then the “mud cake” will be
dissolved and then returned together with cuttings through from the wash-down
valve and the tubing. The formula of acid should be selected according to formation
lithology and mud composition. In order to prevent acid from flowing back into the
screen, a number of drag devices should be installed on the inner string of the screen
to ensure the effect of well cleanup.

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III. Screen top cementing technology

The screen top cementing technology is to run screen and casing above it into the
hole together, and then conduct cementing on casing above the screen. The same
inside diameter of the screen and the casing makes it convenient for later operations.
Staged collar, external casing packer and blind ram are installed between casing and
screen. Firstly, pressurize and set down the external casing packer. Then, build the
pressure to open the staged collar to conduct cementing on upper casings. After
cementing, rubber plug is used to close the staged collar. Finally, the rubber plug and
the blind ram will be drilled for production.
In recent years, the plug-drilling-free screen top cementing technology has been
developed in order to avoid drilling plugs, and fishable tubing plug is used to replace
the blind ram. After cement injection, what have to do is to fish out the rubber plug
and the fishable tubing plug, and therefore, the casing damage caused by drilling
plugs is avoided.

IV. Casing-outside gravel packing Sand control technology in horizontal wells.

Casing-outside gravel packing Sand control technology in horizontal wells Gravel

packing has the advantages of good sand control effect and long validity period, but
the characteristics of α wave and β wave filling in horizontal well may result in
problems of complex process, low packing rate and easy sand plugging. The diverting
screen technology developed by Schlumberger can continue to fill through the
diverting tube even in sand plugging, and the horizontal well reverse gravel packing
sand control technology developed in China in recent years, that is same with
cleaning strings in horizontal section, can fill the horizontal section from toe to root
through the bottom wash-down valve by direct circulation after removing
contaminated mud by acid cleaning in horizontal section.

V. Fracturing completion

In recent years, along with the large-scale development of low-permeability and

difficult-to-produce reserves represented by shale gas in China, it is urgent to improve
the production per single horizontal well to further improve the development effect
and productivity of horizontal wells. Keeping in step with the rapid development of
staged fracturing completion technologies in horizontal wells, at present, the mature
staged fracturing processes and supporting tools have been developed at home and

P a g e | 12
abroad for various completion methods such as open hole, screen and casing. Among
them, the main technologies mainly include the following five types

1. Open hole packer + sliding sleeve staged fracturing technology

In recent years, the staged fracturing completion in open hole horizontal wells has
been developed most rapidly. At present, a variety of open hole packer + sliding
sleeve stage fracturing technologies have been formed.
1) One-ball one-stage open hole packer + sliding sleeve staged fracturing technology.
This technology opens one sliding sleeve by dropping one ball, and it adopts open
hole packer + sliding sleeve staged fracturing.
2) One-ball multi-stage open-hole packer + sliding sleeve staged fracturing
technology

2. b-Pump down drillable bridge plug staged fracturing technology

Pumping down drillable bridge plug staged fracturing technology is a staged

fracturing technique with limitless stages, and is suitable for casing completion.
Perforating gun, setting tool and bridge plug are mainly pumped into the well by
means of cable. After the bridge plug is set, the perforating gun is picked up to
complete the perforation, and the perforating gun is pulled out of hole on cable. All
fracturing staged shall be treated in the same way. After the operation is finished, all
bridge plugs will be drilled out with milling tools, leaving a smooth wellbore.

3. Intelligent switchable staged fracturing sliding sleeve tool

The technology is to RIH the multi-stage sliding sleeve tool and casing during the
process of completion, and the adjacent two sliding sleeves are connected by a
pressure control line; once the fracturing on the lower stage is finished, a dart will be
casted and landed on the sliding sleeve while displacement. Meanwhile, the pressure
is transmitted to the upper sleeve through the control line, and the plunger
compression ring is activated to form a dart base, and then dart with the same size
will be injected to fracture all stages successively.

4. Switchable sliding sleeve staged fracturing technology

In order to facilitate the later production management, the staged fracturing

technologies with the switchable sliding sleeve have been developed, including the

P a g e | 13
full-bore switchable sliding sleeve staged fracturing technology and the ball injection
repeated switchable sliding sleeve staged fracturing technology.

5. Coiled tubing hydro jet perforation annulus sand fracturing technology

This technology combines the coiled tubing with the hydro jet perforation. It uses the
hydraulic jet to carry out sand blasting perforation, and sand fracturing is conducted
through the casing- coiled tubing annulus. In the late period of fracturing, a forced
screen out is realized to form a sand plug to isolate the fractured stage. Pick up the
coiled tubing to carry out sand blasting perforation in the next stage, and then this
stage will be fractured through the annulus. Repeat the above steps until all stages
are fractured. It is represented by Halliburton's CobraMax H technology, and has
been mastered by many domestic and overseas oil companies and research
institutes. (Zhao 2019)

4. HORIZONTAL DRILLING APPLICATIONS

Horizontal drilling should be considered for any exploration and development

programs. The main goals of horizontal drilling are; maximize the ultimate recovery
factor, maximize the economics of recoverable reserves, sustain a high production
rate for as long as possible to optimize ultimate recovery and characterize and
evaluate the reservoir in exploration. Certainly not all reservoirs need horizontal
wells; some reservoirs should be developed using both vertical and horizontal wells.
Increased production of horizontal wells can reduce the number of wells required
for infill or development and reduce the number of platforms and/or other
structures required in development stages. 3 – 5 (Hamada 2001)

Horizontal wells
1. Hit targets that cannot be reached by vertical drilling.
2. Drain a broad area from a single drilling pad.
3. Increase the length of the "pay zone" within the target rock unit.
4. Improve the productivity of wells in a fractured reservoir.
5. Seal or relieve pressure in an "out-of- control" well.
6. Install underground utilities where excavation is not possible.

P a g e | 14
1. Application of Horizontal Drilling to Exploration.

Up to now, horizontal drilling technology has been restricted to production.

Exploration could benefit from horizontal drilling, not as primary tool but as a
secondary tool. In other words, once the occurrence of the reservoir and structure
has been proven by conventional vertical drilling, horizontal drilling can be used to
improve the lateral knowledge, and then better defamation of reservoir
characteristics between vertical wells.

2. Application of Horizontal Drilling to Reservoir Management

The main objective from reservoir management basis is the best exploitation of
petroleum resources in the development and production stages. Horizontal drilling
can drastically improve production by greater exposure to a producing zone or
zones. A horizontal well may also offer other advantages as decrease of pressure
drops and fluid velocities around the well bore, minimization of water and/or gas
coning, and usually acceleration production. There are several types of reservoirs
where production can be increased significantly using horizontal wells: Naturally
fractured reservoirs, Thin reservoirs, Heterogeneous reservoirs, Reservoirs under
urban areas or offshore, Vertical permeability homogeneous reservoirs, reefs or
isolated sand bodies reservoirs and faulted reservoirs. Fig. 4 shows three cases where
horizontal drilling was very successful.

Fig 4: Three examples of horizontal wells drilling applications.

P a g e | 15
3. Application of Horizontal Drilling to Enhanced Oil Recovery.

In active waterflood and enhanced oil recovery (EOR) fields, the use of horizontal
wells can provide the following five advantages; 1) An increase lateral sweep
efficiency, 2) An increase of drainage and swept volume in severely faulted or
heterogeneous reservoirs, 3) A reduction in heavy oil viscosity via efficient steam
injection, 4) A reduction in heat loss during steam injection, and 5) A reduction in the
number of infill wells required for waterflood or EOR program.

4. Application of Horizontal Drilling to Drainage Architecture

One of the most important openings of horizontal drilling is that it has paved the road
to the concept of drainage architecture. Today, it is possible to drill already any type
of geometry inside the reservoir and therefore to create any kind of flow pattern. The
task of reservoir engineer will be then to define the proper drainage architecture
adapted to the fluids, the production mechanism and the characteristics of the
formation. The driller will have then to implement it economically. 6 (Hamada 2001)

ECONOMICS OF HORIZONTAL DRILLING

Horizontal drilling technology has become an economic reality, and the result has
been a dramatic upsurge in the number of horizontal wells being drilled. Horizontal
wells have proven to be cost effective in optimizing hydrocarbon recovery. Although
the majority of wells were drilled because of expected productivity increases, they
have not always been a solution to the economic success of the project. As the
industry's experience of drilling, completing, and producing horizontal wells
increases, so does the realization that horizontal well technology is not always a
solution to the problem of more cost-effective production. Economic analysis of
horizontal well projects is much more complicated than that of vertical well projects
because of the many variables involved. Several parameters are evaluated for the
economic success of horizontal well projects. These include drilling and completion
options, hydrocarbon pay zone thickness, well spacing, fracture intensity, vertical
communication, formation damage, and multi-well prospect. The total well cost for
the horizontal well is divided into two components: the vertical section cost and the
horizontal or lateral section cost. The horizontal or lateral section cost is strongly
time-dependent. The type of completion also affects horizontal well performance,
P a g e | 16
and certain completion options are only possible with certain drilling techniques.
(Osisanya 1997)

1. Cost/Benefits of Horizontal Wells.

Disadvantages of horizontal wells are:

1. High cost as compared to a vertical well. In the U.S., a new horizontal well
drilled from the surface, costs 1.5 to 2.5 times more than a vertical well. A re-
entry horizontal well costs about 0.4 to 1.3 times a vertical well cost.
2. Generally, only one zone at a time can be produced using a horizontal well. If
the reservoir has multiple pay-zones, especially with large differences in
vertical depth, or large differences in permeabilities, it is not easy to drain all
the layers using a single horizontal well.
3. The overall current commercial success rate of horizontal wells in the U.S.
appears to be 65%. (This success ratio improves as more horizontal wells are
drilled in the given formation in a particular area.) This means, initially it is
probable that only 2 out of 3 drilled wells will be com metrically successful.
This creates extra initial risk for the project.

2. Benefits of horizontal wells are:

1. Higher rates and reserves as compared to vertical wells. This results in less
finding cost and less operating cost per barrel of oil produced. In the U.S., as
shown in the example in this paper, in places where vertical well operating
costs are $7 to $9 per barrel of oil, the horizontal well operating costs are $3
to $4 per barrel.
2. For many horizontal well projects, the finding (developing) cost, defined as
well cost divided by well reserves, is about $3 to $4/bbl. This is about 25% to
50% lower than the cost of buying proved producing reserves.
3. To produce the same amount of oil, one needs fewer horizontal wells as
compared to vertical wells. This results in reduced need for surface pipelines,
locations, etc.

P a g e | 17
 3. Horizontal wells compare to vertical wells

• Horizontal wells are sometimes preferable to vertical wells because they

provide greater access to contamination that is moving horizontally, or reach
subsurface areas without damaging surface structures.

• To produce the same amount of oil, one needs fewer horizontal wells as
compared to vertical wells. This results in reduced need for surface pipelines,
locations, etc.

Fig 5:Horizontal wells compare to vertical wells

• Higher rates and reserves as compared to vertical wells. This results in less
finding cost and less operating cost per barrel of oil produced.

• vertical well operating costs are $7 to $9 per barrel of oil, the horizontal well
operating costs are $3 to $4 per barrel.

Fig 6:Different Multilateral Well Configurations

P a g e | 18
 Fig 7:A Comparison of Monthly Production Rates for Horizontal and Vertical Wells

Fig 8: A Comparison of Cumulative Production Over Time for Horizontal and Vertical Wells:

4. Horizontal Wells Costs

•The costs of horizontal well installation vary greatly depending on many

site-specific factors.
• with estimates from $5,000 to $850,000 per well
• Price per foot estimates range from $25 to $85 and per day from $1,500 to
$15,000.

P a g e | 19
4.1 Economic Failure in Horizontal Wells.

• Horizontal wells cost is greater than vertical wells about 2.5 to 3 times, so you
have a high risk of economic failure.
• Eliminate the risk and drill vertical wells.

4.2 Future of Horizontal Wells.

Modern methods allow the drilling of several thousand meters of horizontal

sections, thereby increasing access to the edges of the reservoir and achieving
higher recovery with fewer wells.

Fig 9:U.S Rig Count by Type, 2000-2012

6. A model of the oil fields that use horizontal well technology in

production

1. Horizontal Oil Filed in Iraq.

1.1 Ajeel oil field (Mohammed S.AL-Jawad 2004)

Ajeel field is located about 30 km to the North East of Tikrit city, North Iraq. The
average elevation of the field area is 150-170 m above Mean Sea Level. The reservoir
P a g e | 20
structure consists of the main (southern) dome and North West dome. The main
structure contains an oil accumulation mainly in the Jeribe, Dhiban, Euphrates,
Serikagni, and Favreina formations, and a gas cap mainly in transition beds. All these
units contain carbonated rocks with quite poor permeability [2]. In 1996 HORWELL
Company examined for N.O.C the possibility to apply horizontal well technology on
the field to increase its productivity. Five main formations were selected to perform
the study, which are T12-T15, Jeribe, Dhiban, Euphrates, and Favreina. Due to the
proximity of gas and/or water contacts in some critical.

Well Profile
Ajeel oil field has many vertical wells with known depths. These vertical wells could
be converted to short radius wells (reentry wells) by drilling building section with a
high build rate of angle. Usually, this type of horizontal well could be completed as
open hole, since the formation is limestone. Well profile was constructed with radius
of curvature method.

Figure 1 depicts single build (constant build) horizontal well profile suggested for
this field when the rate of build is 90 deg/100ft. Table 5 presents the dimensions of
this profile (Short radius well profile). A 63.66 ft vertical distance is required to
convert the well from vertical to horizontal. While vertical depth of about 2934 ft is
required to start the deflection process.

Fig 10: Horizontal Well Profile (Mohammed S.AL-Jawad 2004)

1.2 East Baghdad field (A.Alrazzaq 2019)

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There are varieties of reasons lead for drilling horizontal wells rather than verticals.
Increasing the recovery of oil, especially from thin or tight reservoir permeability is
the most important parameter. East Baghdad oil field considered as a giant field with
approximately more than 1billion barrel of a proved reserves accompanying recently
to low production rate problems in many of the existing wells. It is important to say
that presence of of horizontal wells in East Baghdad field especially by converting
some of already drilled wells by re-entry drilling horizontal sections may provide one
of best solutions for the primary development stage in East Baghdad field which may
be followed by drilling new horizontal wells or using multilateral wells. Advance
software (Well Test/FAST) has been used to convert the production data for the
already drilled vertical wells to horizontals to simulate the productivity. It can be
concluded that no measurements available for the ratio of anisotropy (Kv/Kh); in East
Baghdad Oil Field therefore, the wells productivity has been estimated using wide
range of anisotropy ratios that will help the field operator to determine exactly wells
productivity. Moreover, it helps to recommend the effectiveness of applying
hydraulic fracturing in improving horizontal well productivity. The results show that
it could be used well EB-32 as a re-entry horizontal well with an optimum section
length of 1500-2000ft wich give the best production rate. The same result could be
stated for EB-10 with somewhat higher productivity than EB-32.

1.3 HFY Oilfield in Masyan south of Iraq. (Daiwen, et al. 2014)

Through research into the characteristics of Mishrif Reservoir in Iraqi HFY Oilfield and
the drilling and production engineering, we determined that the wells be drilled and
completed by suspended sidetracking in open hole in dual branch wells and by
running screen tubes in open hole; by stabilizing the sidewall of the branch
connecting hole sections and optimizing the design and drilling of the main hole and
branch hole trajectories, we have developed the key technology for suspended
sidetracking of branch open hole in HFY Oilfield, reduced the difficulty and risk in the
drilling of the main wellbore and branches, and have succeeded in drilling of four
branch horizontal wells. Oil production test in the first branch well flowed at a rate of
1 638 m3 of oil per day, two times up compared with the initial production of single
horizontal well. The application of branch horizontal wells in HFY Oilfield shows that
the proper drilling and completing manner for branch wells determined in line with
oilfield conditions is a critical approach to optimizing well drilling and development
of the oilfield and improving the overall development benefits. The success in the
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drilling of branch wells to Mishrif Reservoir provides experiences for the drilling of
branch wells into large carbonate reservoirs in the Middle East areas and has
expanded ways for low-cost development of the oilfields.

3.3 Southern Iraqi Oil Field with Horizontal Wells.

southern Iraqi oil field from fully vertical to primarily horizontal wells. The subject
reservoir is a massive world-class carbonate limestone reservoir containing 23 °API
oil and is the dominant reservoir in a set of vertically stacked reservoirs. This reservoir
is a part of a large anticline which is oriented north-northwest. The formation is
Middle Cretaceous and has a subsea depth of 2100–2600 m. The reservoir was
initially developed on a 200-acre inverted 9-spot pattern, and was on primary oil
production until reservoir pressure dropped and production declined. Later, water
injection started at centers of the 9-spot pattern. Development drilling was projected
with future addition of vertical infills at 100 and then 50-acre patterns.
During pressure drop due to primary production, water encroachment from flanks
occurred, particularly, in the thin super-high permeability (vuggy) layers present in
the reservoir; however, this was not clearly evident at early stages. By the time of
starting pattern water injection with comingled injection and production in vertical
wells, there was clear evidence of rapid water movement in the vuggy layers. As
water injection progressed, the severity of water cut evolution in vertical wells rapidly
progressed, necessitating change of the depletion plan. Continued development of
the field with vertical infills would result in unsustainable water production and
injection requirements, and lower oil recovery.
A redevelopment effort was initiated to overcome these challenges. Geologic and
simulation models were modified to reflect the evolved understanding of geology.
Appropriate distribution of high permeability layers was introduced and calibrated to
production data, in particular, water breakthrough timing and water cut evolution.
The main change in the redevelopment plan has been to shift emphasis from drilling
vertical infill wells to a fewer horizontal well targeting low permeability zones which
comprise most of the reserves. Reservoir development of the massive lower section
is planned with 2 km long horizontal wells with injectors located in lower part of the
reservoir and producers higher arranged in a line drive. Upper reservoir development
is planned by working over existing comingled vertical wells to upper reservoir only
thus decoupling upper and lower comingled production.
The redevelopment plan achieves the business target rate with a much longer plateau
duration at lower cost. The plan effectively utilizes existing vertical wells in addition
to drilling new horizontal wells for recovering oil from lower, tighter reservoir. Initial
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performance of horizontal wells has shown very promising results with boosted dry
oil production. This updated development plan is now in full execution phase and can
provide redevelopment ideas for other brown fields with similar issues.

2. Saudi Arabia

2.1 OFFSHORE FIELDS

Berri field Berri field is located both onshore and offshore along the western edge of
the Arabian Gulf. Its 1994 daily production rate was about 300,000 STB. Berri field is
the first field to have horizontal drilling technology applied. The carbonate nature of
the reservoir improves hole stability and makes possible open hole completion hole
that give two times conventional well rates. A great advantage of horizontal wells
over verticals is an increased exposure to the wellbore of thin oil columns and /or
tight rock sections. was drilled along the top of the reservoir above the OWC and
away from the water cone. The well has since produced very little water.

2.2 Marjan Field

Mrujan field is located 9 miles offshore in the Arabian Gulf. Its 1994 daily production
was about 400,000 STB. The field consists of four main areas: Mrujan, Lawhah,
Maharah and Hamur with 13 oil bearing reservoirs. The Khafji reservoir is the only
zone on production. It suffers from a strong water drive and a large gas cap. The
objective of 13 horizontal wells drilled in this zone is to reduce coning of gas and
water. The target rate of these wells is twice that of the conventional well. (Hamada
2001)

2.3 Zuluf field

Zuluf field is one of the northernmost fields in Saudi Arabia and is located about 35
miles offshore in the Arabian Gulf Its 1994 daily production was about 500,000 STB.
The field contains 8 oil and gas bearing reservoirs. Khafji reservoir is the main
reservoir and it has string water drive and a gas cap. Three horizontal wells have been
drilled in the Khafj main sand to control gas and water coning. Thus, the productivity
has reached four times that of nearby vertical wells. In Khafji stringers, three
horizontal wells have been drilled to exploit these thin sands Production in these
wells has been doubled that of the offset vertical wells. (Hamada 2001)

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 2.2 Onshore Fields

2.2.1 Ghawar field

Ghawar field is the largest producing field in the world. Its 1994 daily production was
about 5,000,000 STB. The Ghawar contains several producing reservoirs. All
reservoirs are carbonates, the main producing formation is the Arab-D sequence.
Significant number of horizontal wells were targeted in Ghawar field to increase the
efficiency of the waterflooding program, by improving sweep efficiency and injection
performance, and to capture additional oil. Application of horizontal drilling to
producers has just begun in Ghawar model of a horizontal well at the top of Arab-D
sand reservoir in area of thin oil column to increase the efficiency of the water
flooding program and produce all available oil. This injection program has enabled
the wells in Ghawar to continue to flow under their own pressure.

2.2.2 Abqaiq field

Abqaiq is one of the matures oil field in Saudi Arabia. This onshore field was
discovered in 1940 and production begun in 1946. Its 1994 daily production was
about 650,000 STB. Abqaiq contains four producing bearing sequences. Horizontal
well was drilled in Arab-D formation in area of thin oil column to increase the
efficiency of the water flood and capture all available oil. Vertical wells in such areas
have high water cuts and are produced at restricted rate to avoid water coning.
Horizontal wells have higher rates.

3. United states of America

Horizontally drilled wells now account for 96 percent of crude oil production and 97
percent of natural gas production in the United States, according to the Energy
Information Administration (EIA).
The near-total hold on efforts into tight oil and shale gas formations represents a
massive leap over 14 years as, in 2004, such operations represented only 15 percent
of crude oil production therein. Likewise, U.S. natural gas production in shale
formations had only seen horizontal wells represent 14 percent of production in
2004, against their 97 percent hold now. Horizontal drilling has allowed operators
greater access to oil and natural gas-bearing rock than its more traditional, vertical
forebears. It works through drilling parallel to the geologic layers in tight formations,
allowing more hydraulic fracturing. The horizontal method has dominated drilling
P a g e | 25
since at least the beginning of the decade, but that pace has picked up steam
significantly in the last few years. Only in 2017 did the number of horizontal wells
finally surpass vertical wells in their respective regions, and as of the end of 2018,
there are still 88,000 vertical wells active. Those wells are nearly insignificant,
however, producing only minor volumes that are likely only to continue production
until they become wholly uneconomic.

7. Desiccation

• Is necessary production of horizontal drilling to be higher from vertical

drilling?

In the event of comparison with the production between the horizontally dug well
and the vertically dug well of the same reservoir of the same productive unit and with
the same reservoir characteristics, the production of the horizontal well is more
expensive than the vertically dug well for a simple reason, because the potential area
exposed to production (exposure area) is greater in the case of the horizontal well
Especially if the horizontal arm is several times the exploration areas in the vertical
well. This can be demonstrated logically by relying on Darcy's equation, which states
that the fluid flow rate depends on several factors, including the cross-sectional area
of the flow, and since we drilled horizontally, i.e. we increased the area multiplied
by the permeability, that is, we increased the permeability of the production area in
the case of the horizontal well. The condition of the vertical well is that we increase
the length of the producing area and by dividing the permeability by the length, the
production rate of the well will decrease.

• Oil wells drilled horizontally are among the highest-producing wells?

Oil wells drilled horizontally through hydrocarbon-bearing formations are often

among the most prolific oil wells in the United States. Although modern horizontal
drilling achieved commercial success in the 1980s, drilling techniques have improved,
and in recent years, horizontal drilling has become more common.
Geologic formations are almost always much greater in horizontal extent than they
are in vertical thickness. For this reason, more oil-bearing rock is exposed for
production in horizontal drilling than in vertical drilling. Horizontal wells are often

P a g e | 26
completed in combination with hydraulic fracturing to maximize production along the
exposed rock formation.
In 2015 nearly 77% of the most prolific U.S. oil wells, or those producing more than
400 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) per day, were horizontally drilled wells. For about
85,000 moderate rate wells producing in 2015, defined here as more than 15 BOE per
day and up to 400 BOE per day, 42% were drilled horizontally. Of the approximately
370,000 lowest-rate, marginal oil wells in 2015, also known as stripper wells, only
about 2% were horizontal wells. (EIA NOVEMBER 4, 2016)

8. Conclusions

Horizontal drilling technology is the most effectively expanding technology in the

last ten years to improve productivity, control adverse and damaging reservoir
conditions and enhance recovery of oil and gas reservoir and also to explore and
produce oil and gas under difficult geographical and geological settings.
Application of horizontal well technology has accomplished the planned targets:
• Control water and gas coning problems in offshore and onshore fields
• Improve the efficiency of waterflooding programs
• Increase productivity of tight reservoirs
• Increase productivity of thin oil columns reservoirs
• Improve capacity of producing wells
• Reduce the total number of infill and development wells.
• Reduce total drilling, flowline, facilities and water/gas handling costs.

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 9. References

Works Cited
A.Alrazzaq, Ayad A.Alhaleem. 2019. "Development of East Baghdad Oil Field By
Clusters of Horizontal Wells." Iraqi Journal of Chemical and Petroleum
Engineering 10. http://ijcpe.uobaghdad.edu.iq and www.iasj.net Iraqi
Journ.
Daiwen, XU, MEI Jingbin, ZHENG Chuankui, REN Zhiji, and ZOU. 2014. "Application
of branch horizontal well technology in HFY Oilfield of Iraq." Oil Drilling &
Production Technology. http://en.cnki.com.cn/.
EIA. NOVEMBER 4, 2016. EIA.org.
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=28652.
Hamada, G.M., AI- Awad, M.N.J., AI-Biehed, M.S. and AI-Saddique, M.A.,. 2001.
"CONTRIBUTION OF HORIZONTAL DRILLING TECHNOLOGY IN THE
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS OF SAUDI OIL FIELDS ." Engineering Journal of
the University of Qatar,.
Hughes, Baker. 1995. Drilling Engineering Workbook.
Mohammed S.AL-Jawad, A.A.AL-Dabaj*. 2004. "Design of Horizontal Well Program
for Ajeel Field." Iraqi Journal of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Vol.15
No.1 (March 2014) 59- 63: 5. www.iasj.net.
Osisanya, Samuel O. 1997. "Economic Analysis of Horizontal Wells." OnePetra .
https://doi.org/10.2118/37495-MS.
Rabia, Hussain. 2002. Well Engineering & Construction. London.
Zhao, Xu. 2019. "New Horizontal Well Completion Technologies and Research
Prospects." Journal of Physics: Conference Series.

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